A little math

Math is one of those things – it seems like you get it or you don’t. For some people, math problems might as well be Greek or gibberish – it doesn’t make any sense to them. For others, it comes as easy as second nature. In my own family, I have one son to whom math is the easiest thing ever- answers roll off his tongue with little or no effort and two others for whom the word “math” is considered a four-letter word and strikes their hearts with fear.

Apparently, this dichotomy is not just affecting my family, it is like a huge crater separating the math wizards from the math fearful. Steven Strogatz, a Cornell applied mathematics professor, is putting together a series of articles about math for the everyday person, from pre-school to grad school. HIs goal is to make math more understandable to people so they can understand why the people who get math – get it and many of us just don’t, try as hard as we might.

His first installment and the article explaining the concept, entitled From Fish to Infinity can be found here.

I love math and math is my friend. I can do complex math calculations in my head and it has come in handy in many aspects of my life, claim handling, Printing, and now running a Home Improvement business. I can do ball park estimates in my head which are usually very close to the actual bill (always too low, but close), estimating materials, and calculating cabinets or floor-plan layouts rely heavily on math and spacial relations. I visualized and designed Joe’s whole kitchen in my head then showed him on paper what it was going to look like, and now he loves the layout. I like math because it is organized, logical and honest, it doesn’t allow subjectivity, black and white. Man, I am one weird dude.